Shuaibu boasted like he never did before. Kanu, Uche and Osaze almost roasted the Tunisians with their confidence. This is very common in football so these people have the rights to display such psychological warfare especially against the backdrop of the away game in Tunis.

True, in that game the Super Eagles played cautiously but the coach should have capitalised on the nervousness of the Tunisians, perhaps stop the cautious play or change the game plan and go for an outright win. In Tunisia, the Super Eagles dictated the game and on that day they should have dealt a huge blow to the ambitions of the Tunisians. But they were happy with the draw by placing high hopes on the home game of September the 6th.

On September 5 Brazil went to Buenos Aires and handed a 1-3 defeat to the Argentines to book their place at the 2010 World Cup with 3 games left to play. Teams that want to appear at the world cup don’t play matches on home and away basis. Ask Ivory Coast! Serious teams prepare very well to win every match. I doubt if any country will make it to the world cup without winning substantially away. All games are crucial.

When the Super Eagles played goalless draws in Mozambique, the biggest setback to Nigeria’s ambition of participating in the World Cup was established. There was an unexpected but a golden opportunity to seal a win in far away Tunisia because the Super Eagles surprisingly dictated the tempo of the game. Unfortunately, as mentioned already our players did not take their chances.

Football is a game where you cannot afford to waste your chances and opportunities especially when people expect much from you as a team or a country. Generally teams that do fail to take their chances in any tournament always look back and lick their wounds.

It is true that every team wants to win and that one team or country cannot win all the time but with Nigeria the circumstances are different. When we emerge in groups where our experiences are dominant and our talents exceedingly outstanding the expectations are that we should harnessed our strengths and fly high. Unfortunately we always find ourselves under extreme pressure and the heat usually consumes us. In 2006 Angola went to Germany at the expense of Nigeria. In 2010, Tunisia may be in South Africa while we stay at home.

In the days ahead heads may roll, names will be mentioned and blames will be traded among all the parties that run Nigerian football. Facebook is already loaded with comments, expressions of anger and serious disappointments. People are already demanding that Shuaibu should be sacked. Someone will remind us soon that Aiyegbeni and Martins should have been in the team. The suggestions, ideas and comments will be endless just exactly the same way we had it when Angola went to Germany instead of Nigeria. We always go round in cycle of idiocy, don’t we?

But as the mathematicians, statisticians and the die-hard fans begin to permutate on the slim chance of appearing at the world cup, isn’t it high time that we looked into our system and sort out the entire process. Since the disappointment of 2006 it appears we didn’t learn anything and we are almost back at the same point again.

Political commentators and critics will find a correlation here: have we learnt how to do anything right in this country since 1960? Did anyone observe the high level of indiscipline among the Super Eagles Players in this match against Tunisia? I pity Shuaibu in his new dilemma where it appears his defenders where actually on vacation for most part of the game? Football analysts are working up their files of criticisms and they will point to the lack of cohesion and the absence of defensive midfielders in the game. Most likely for the first time, Enyeama will get some bashing.

My suggestions are as follows. Against the backdrop of the recent age falsification of more than 80% of the members of the Nigerian U-17 team, Nigeria should start a process that will ensure that all Nigerian players in all future age-group competitions are tested for age falsification. This way, we will be able to build a team for the future Super Eagles knowing that they are playing with their true ages and therefore will play together for a much longer time with probably the same team mates. To be sure, all the players in our league with age below 20 should actually be tested.

This suggestion is based on the fact that Luis Figo played in Inter Milan until last season while his Nigerian contemporaries from the U-21 are probably grandfathers by now. Also in the game against Tunisia check out our U-30 defenders! They are rigid, immobile and they lack the speed to match the Tunisians. Recovery rates were nothing to write home about. We are doing ourselves more harm than good by this age scam.

Discipline was a big problem. It appears that everyone on the pitch was leaving the job for the other person. The origin could have been a weak coaching crew. I have been wondering if the coach or team manger spoke to the Super Eagles players during the interval. If they did, what did they talk about? I mean it was not that bad in far away Tunisia. The level of indiscipline was similar to what was on displayed when they played goalless draw with Mozambique and conceded 2 goals which the referee ruled as offside on both occasions.

Thirdly, I look forward to the day when the people who run Nigerian football will be people with the knowledge and expertise that it takes to run a big team such as the Super Eagles. The Super Eagles of today should have built on the foundation laid in 1994 when we won in Tunisia and stormed the world in US 94. Unfortunately we have not found our rhythm at that level since then. There is something fundamentally wrong with the administration of sports in Nigeria. Of course everything is wrong with how we do things in Nigeria.

What I despised most in the entire scenario was the PTC. In how many countries of the world are Presidential Task Forces constituted to ensure qualification for world cup tickets. Anyway it appears the job of the PTC is on course. I mean what has this illegal regime achieved since it forcefully occupied our national space since 2007? Blackout is total; Education collapse is total as primary and secondary school teachers have now joined the strike actions. Spread of poverty is total and unemployment is not left out. Everything is like total failure. I hope the PTC can now pack up or fold up and stop further wastage of public funds.

Was I expecting the Super Eagles to win the match? With the heartbreaking experiences of the past I have learnt to watch the Super Eagles without getting emotional. Don’t ask me how I got to that level. On the day of the match I told my friend Alaba (real name) my expectations for the game. When I told him (at 87th min of the game) that we can only win with a 3-1 he told me that God has done this one.

By now he would be wondering if I have a magic ball in my house. But football is not about magic balls. It’s a team game and unless the so-called god of soccer decides otherwise it is possible to predict how matches will end. Tunisia showed character and they revealed to us throughout the game that they have a purpose. They came with a plan to win in Abuja. They mesmerised our defence and showed us how flat footed our stars are. But I am sure that some of the Nigerian players like Osaze will receive praises.

When the Tunisians were running, we were walking (or Snailing -like father, like sons) and it seems they knew before they left Tunis that football is a game of 90 minutes. They could have scored more than 2 goals against Nigeria and an own goal would have increased the tally for their sweats. But the god of soccer was on the side of Nigeria; rather than suffer a humiliating defeat on our defiled soil, we escaped with a draw.

Football has in the past made us to forget pressing national issues whereas it should be reminding us of our collective failures. So I do hope that Nigerians will remember that we are in the middle of a battle with the illegal regime in Abuja and the lazy lawmakers who are raking money from all angles. After spending 1 billion naira on constitution review, all they could come up with is the selection of chairman and all types of nonsense.

The real issue is the electoral amendment that will ensure the sacking of Maurice Iwu and the erection of both electoral institutions and processes that will ensure that my vote and your votes are counted in 2011. These are serious issues. Football can wait for our children and grandchildren. Their future must be assured first.

My patriotic mind is with the die-hard fans who are now hoping on Mozambique and Kenya. The Super Eagles were not even wearing black bands or did I miss that? If we learnt anything from Gani Fawehinmi the Great, we would have known that the only way we can achieve success, progress and even a qualification for a world cup is by taking our destiny in our own hands? We cannot earn that from Mozambique or Kenya or the present insensitive rulers and occupiers of Nigeria, never!

Thy Glory O’ Nigeria…!

aderounmu@gmail.com  

Robot  # 1 | 07.09.2009 02:35

...Read the full article.

Tony Ishiekwene  # 2 | 07.09.2009 07:33

Thanks Adeola for this beautiful piece. Where was Yar Adua in a match played right in his backyard at Abuja stadium? Was he healthy enough to come and cheer the Super Eagles to victory? No, instead he sent Adeniyi to issue press release pretending and asking the Eagles to beat Tunisia silly, as if it is election rigging where they write fruadulent results authored by Maurice Iwu. The president is to indisposed to run a complex country like Nigeria. Everything in Nigeria is now going belly-up! Health, Power, Education, unemployment and now sport. We went to Berlin with our Athletes as mere spectators watching the Jamaicans and other tiny populated Caribbean islands cart away medals and world records in both their male and female contingents. Don't blame the SE players in their lacklustre performance against Tunisia in Abuja yesterday. Blame the NFF and the coach. Most of the players ply their trade in Europe whose football season just resumed about two weeks ago. So since May most of these players had been on holiday and very rusty. A friendly game was scheduled to be played in August against a north African country, Egypt, Morocco or Algeria, but ineptitude and probably corruption made Coach Amodu and the NFF to say that march was not necessary. Tunisia played a friendly with Ivory Coast to prepare them for the march against Nigeria, but Nigeria was adamant. So the march in Abuja is the first competitive football our Eagles player are playing after nearly 3 months of inactivity, and you expect them to beat a well prepared, disciplined and die-hard team like the Tunisians. shame! Nigeria should just forget about 2010 world cup. We do not deserve to be there. The only person I feel for there is Osaze Odemwingie who gave sweat and blood for a clueless, directionless Nigeria, as he may not go to any world cup despite his commitment over the years.

cuteajax  # 3 | 07.09.2009 09:44

I agree with you totally Mr Aderounmu. the glory has departed from Nigerian football due to mal-administration. i can recall that earlier this year, in the wake of the Eagles' goalless draw in Mozambique, some of us remarked that Shuaibu Amodu didnt have what it takes to take Nigeria to 2010 world cup but some adamant commentators (they know their names) were busy rooting for him as if he was their brother-in-law. i hope they are seething and eating their words now whereever they are. They have finally succeeded in screwing the Country. God forbid that I should add to my prayer point that Tunisia should falter so that Nigeria can qualify. The Golden rule says: do unto others what you want others to do unto you. I know what I asked God to do to anyone who wishes me evil so I am definitely not disposed to praying for Tunisia downfall. In fact I support Tunisia to go to the World Cup. I pray Tunisia qualifies because Nigeria doesn’t deserve to be there. We will console ourselves with watching Champions League. Phew!

Enyi  # 4 | 07.09.2009 11:09

The Super Eagles once more failed to soar. Neither the coach, nor the players should be blamed for this. Individually, the players are talented. Football is a team-game and as such the 11 men or women in the pitch must play as a team with cohesion and tenacity of purpose. In Tunisia the team was deficient in attack. We got a draw and I pleaded that the team should not be criticized. I premised this position on the assumption that the draw was in the long term strategy of the management crew. The Abuja debacle is a different ball game.  Our football over the years has been on a downward trend and is a manifestation of our now legendary lack of long term strategic planning and inadequate preparation. This deficiency permeates all sectors of our national life.  Education, Health, Manufacturing Industry, Infra-Structures, Security and others are in crisis. Why should we expect football to be different? Every lover of football knows that FIFA World Cup (WC) holds every 4 years. I believe that right now serious football nations are looking beyond South Africa and planning for 2014. Such vision appears too complicated for us in Nigeria. Thus, 6 months to France 98 we had no coach. When did we start serious preparation for the current contest? Both coach and players need enough time to blend into a formidable team. Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well.  Is it not amazing that a country that stunned the world in WC 1994 and Olympics 1996 will call for 3 days fasting and prayers to beat lowly rated Kenya? I guess that the next move will now be a call for prayers so that Tunisia will lose to Mozambique or perhaps send our native gods to do the battle.  Let’s we forget, this happened during the last edition when people were called upon to pray for Angola to lose their last match. Of course the Almighty, being a God of Justice did not let that happen. I am not sure what the Presidential Task Force is supposed to do when we have a minister of sports and an NFF administration. Does this denote lack of confidence in the two?  As long as we continue to have square pegs in round holes coupled with lack of visionary management, the rot in the football sector will continue.

crownabbey  # 5 | 07.09.2009 12:34

Just read the two articles preceeding this one especially the one from Farooq Kperogi. That is all one needs to say about this country, and the direction it is going on many things. Footbal or no footbal. What is happening on the field is a microcosm of the problems in country. No direction, no planning and no organization, and the people holding knives to its jugular would not let go until it bleeds or suffocates! What else is there to say? Nothing until someone rise up to execute majority of the fraudulent people from Obasanjo, Babangida to Akala and Oyinlola. Until that happens, Nigeria is racing ahead to catch Somalia as one big failed kingdom. Aondoaaka must be laughing now for all the millions he's made with all cronies! Rather than build, they continue to destroy and they see nothing wrong! Great for Tunisia, it would have been injustice if they had lost that match.

Mikky jaga  # 6 | 07.09.2009 12:51

Nigeria is a country that hopes to reap where it did not sow. Tunisia was the more determined to go to the World Cup and if they continue with that determination, they will definitely get there. Our boys forgot that football is played for 90 mins and they paid dearly for it. We actually do not deserve the distraction of a world cup with all the mountains of problems on the home front. While secretly wishing that a miracle should still happen, I will not lose my sleep if Nigeria does not make it there.

Anioma777  # 7 | 07.09.2009 14:00

Hmmmmm...what can I say. Anyway anything is possible, we have to win our last two games and hope something happens in the other games invoving Tunisia...oh well we live in hope    Mr Ayo Akinfe you must be having a larrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrf mate!!!!!!! No doubt you must be saying I forewarned you guys. Now I have to endure the humiliation that has already started coming my way from my Ghanian friends. SUPER EAGLES OF NIGERIA...OUR HUMILIATION IC COMPLETE.......E WO!!!!!!!!!!

Godwin  # 8 | 17.09.2009 08:56

This suggestion is based on the fact that Luis Figo played in Inter Milan until last season while his Nigerian contemporaries from the U-21 are probably grandfathers by now. Also in the game against Tunisia check out our U-30 defenders! They are rigid, immobile and they lack the speed to match the Tunisians. Recovery rates were nothing to write home about. We are doing ourselves more harm than good by this age scam. Luis Figo played @ FIFA WYC in 1991 when Nigeria was under a ban for "age discrepancy", Nwankwo Kanu who played @ FIFA U-17 Championships in 1993 is still going strong.